Don't pitch to Aaron Judge in the first inning.
Would a team ever intentionally walk a player in his first plate appearance? It's worth considering with the New York Yankees' superstar.
The 6-foot-7 slugger is the most dangerous first inning hitter ever.
How?
He now has 19 first inning homers on the season after blasting one out of Fenway Park on Friday night. It's a new MLB record.
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Judge had tied the record last season with his 18 first-inning homers. It also tied Alex Rodriguez with the 18 in a row.
But now, Judge stands alone.
It's an astonishing feat when you think about it.
Judge has 19 of his 47 homers on the season in the first inning. That's 40.4% of his home runs coming in the first inning.
At the same time, Judge takes only about a quarter of his plate appearances in the first.
So by that measure, Judge is vastly outperforming expectation.
It makes sense that Judge's highest home run total would come in the first inning. It's the only inning that Judge for sure gets to hit in.
But when the opportunity arises, Judge makes sure all indeed do rise.
He's done it in the first inning more than anyone else ever.
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